


A Glitch In The Matrix

by SerialObsessor (ibelieveinturtles)



Series: Donuts in My Bra and Other Stories [14]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: 150 follower prompts, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, F/M, Fic Giveaway, Prompt Fic, WinterShock - Freeform, fyws winter, winter wonderland ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 02:58:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13449093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/pseuds/SerialObsessor
Summary: Bucky’s arm is twitching and glitching





	A Glitch In The Matrix

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anogete](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anogete/gifts).



> Anogete asked: I want a prompt! Darcy with Bucky or Steve, D9 (cookies). Yay! 
> 
> Beta’d by [catrinasl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/) but I added more after she looked at it, so any mistakes are all my own :-)

**A Glitch In The Matrix**

* * *

 

* * *

* * *

 

The morning after they got back from yet another pre-Christmas publicity appearance, there was another parcel on Bucky’s table.

There had been one every morning since December 1st, and although he'd been suspicious and sceptical at first, he now looked forward to them. (It eased his suspicion when he found out that everyone else was getting them too, although no one knew or would tell him who was behind it.)

He picked it up, and something inside went  _ crunch _ as his metal hand spasmed and he accidentally squeezed too hard. He froze for a moment, eyes closing briefly as he silently cursed at himself, focusing hard on the hand to make it release its grip. (Not that he was even sure that worked, but somehow it made him feel better.)

He put the package back on the table and sat down. With extreme care—and mostly using his right hand—he pulled the paper off to reveal a cellophane wrapped parcel of what had been Christmas cookies but was now a bag of broken bits and pieces. 

Standing up again, he left the bag on the table while he had breakfast, cleaned up after himself, and got a mug out, ready to make a coffee to take to the morning meeting. His hand behaved itself, and just as he began to think it was an isolated occurrence, it spasmed again, right as he picked up his coffee mug—it shattered, the pieces going everywhere. With a sigh, he swept the pieces into the trash, and made a mental note to head down to maintenance after the meeting.

He pulled a new mug out to make his coffee, slipped the packet of cookies into a pocket, and made sure to carry the mug in his other hand.

Three broken pens and one shattered doorknob later, he entered the workshop that belonged to the technician who did most of the work on his arm and sat himself down at the small square bench on one side of the room.

When he arrived, Maeve was in the corner that served as her office deep in conversation with the recently arrived new lab manager—an attractive young woman that he hadn't been introduced to yet. He didn't even know what her name was, partly due to having been on a mission when she arrived, and partly due to his habit of not reading memos unless they were marked ***URGENT***. 

Maeve gave him a quick wave of acknowledgement as he leaned against the bench, indicating that she'd be a few minutes, so he pulled the packet of broken cookies from his pocket and popped a piece in his mouth.

He didn't realise he'd made a sound until he opened his eyes to see the two women staring at him with unabashed amusement on their faces.

“What?” he mumbled self-consciously through the crumbs.

“Whatever have you got there?” Maeve asked, walking towards him.

“‘S cookies,” he said. “Someone's been leaving little presents for the whole team for the last coupla weeks, and this is today's.”

“They must be good,” the other woman observed, “if the noises you're making are any indication.” She grinned at him, and he was positive that her eyes twinkled at him.

“Best I've ever tasted,” he said, and then reluctantly held the package out. “Wanna try?”

“Why are they all broken?” Maeve asked as she helped herself to one of the fragments. “Oh wow, these are really good!” she said, leaning against the bench.

“That's why I'm here,” Bucky said, offering the broken cookies to the other woman. “My hand’s been twitchy all morning and I keep breaking things.”

“I imagine that's made life a bit difficult for you.” The new lab manager shook her head at his offer of broken cookies.

“Just a little,” he replied. “I'm managing for now but if gets any worse there could be real problems.”

Maeve pushed away from the workbench and opened up the tool cabinet. “Let's take a look then, shall we? Shirt off, please.” 

Bucky pulled his shirt off and draped it over the back of the chair while Maeve arranged her instruments on the bench. The lab manager watched openly, a small smile playing around her red lips, and while he didn't usually have any issues with the partial nudity arm maintenance required, today he couldn't help but feel a little self conscious. 

Maeve glanced over her shoulder at the other woman as she settled herself on the stool next to Bucky's left arm. “Do you want to have a look, seeing as you're here?” she asked, and then turned to Bucky. “Is that okay? Do you mind if Darcy watches? Wait—have you two met yet?”

Bucky shook his head. “Not yet,” he said, at the same time as the woman—Darcy—replied. 

“Agent Barnes is on my list of things to do but I haven't gotten to him yet.” The twinkle was back in her eye as she smiled at him. For some reason, her smile unsettled him, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why. 

He looked away, finding it just that little harder than usual to control his emotions.

“Well, Bucky, Darcy. Darcy, Bucky. I'm guessing you already know what the other does,” Maeve said in an offhand manner, more interested in opening up his arm and adjusting the spotlight to shine into its inner workings.

“That's Wakandan technology, isn't it?” Darcy said, coming around to stand on Bucky's right.

Maeve nodded as she started poking around, a pair of tweezers in one hand and a tiny screwdriver in the other. “It took six months of training before they'd let me anywhere near Bucky's arm. It's impressive tech, don't you think?”

“Very impressive,” Darcy agreed, bracing a hand on the bench and leaning towards his arm for a better look. Bucky just happened to be looking towards her, and got his own better look—right down her cleavage. He had a suspicion it was on purpose but he wasn't quite sure.

“Very impressive, indeed,” Darcy continued, straightening up again. 

Bucky had to agree with her about impressive things, although he doubted they had the same things in mind. He couldn't seem to find anything to say, though. Not that he spoke a lot anyway, but it was usually by choice and not actual lack of words.

As she moved back a little, she continued speaking without seeming to notice his hesitation.

“Does this happen very often?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“And how often do you usually require maintenance?”

“We check it after every mission,” he replied, watching intently as Maeve isolated a set of relays and started testing them one by one.

“So what do you do when you're not on missions, or training?” Darcy asked. “I've seen the schedules—it's a good balance of work versus play.”

He glanced over to where Darcy was still leaning towards him, eyes fixed firmly on his arm. Was she really interested or just making conversation?

“This and that,” he replied, trying not to notice how her cleavage was still on display, although not as blatantly as before.

“Do you read?” she asked, shifting to meet his eyes, not at all put off by his reticence. 

“Yes.”

She grinned at him. “I like to read, too. Do you have a favourite genre?”

“Not really,” he said, and then felt compelled to add, “I just like a good story. Long books are good. And series. I like series of books.”

“Oh yes,” Darcy agreed, and the twinkle appeared again. “I like long books, too. The longer it lasts, the better. A nice, thick, long book.”

Maeve snorted softly, and Bucky looked down again as he had a sudden inkling that Darcy wasn't actually talking about books. Well, not strictly books. Maybe. He could be wrong. 

Just then Maeve touched something that made his whole arm spasm. It was a good thing Darcy was on his other side, otherwise she might have ended up with an elbow in her chest. He didn't want to do anything to damage that chest.

Bucky tore his eyes away as soon as he realised where his gaze had wandered to, and directed it back down at his arm.

Next to him, Darcy straightened up.

“Well, as fascinating as this is, I have a shitload of work to get through before Christmas, so I should probably go get on with it.” She bestowed him with a dazzling smile. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Bucky. You're still on my list though, so don't go disappearing on me, okay?” She didn't even wait for an answer but turned straight to Maeve. “I'll get back to you by the end of the week. Seeya!”

He watched her walk out of the room, not realising he was still staring at the empty doorway until Maeve coughed.

“She always like that?” he asked.

“More or less,” she replied calmly, snapping the cover of his arm closed. 

“There. I've fixed the malfunctioning part for now but I'm not actually sure why it malfunctioned in the first place. Have you done anything different or unusual in the last 48 hours?”

He shook his head. “Just the benefit last night. Wait—some idiot did spill his drink all over me, but that shouldn't have caused this kind of problem.”

Maeve shook her head. “Do you have anywhere you need to be? I think I'd like to run some scans. Just to be on the safe side.”

The scans were time consuming and dull. He had to keep perfectly still while Maeve was running the tests, and although he was very good at keep himself occupied when hiding in a sniper's nest, this was a different situation. Bucky spent the whole time trying not to think about Darcy The Lab Manager and failing. Fifteen minutes of her innuendo and double entendres and he couldn't get her out of his head.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Maeve pushing her chair back.

“Well, I can't see anything on the scans that might be causing the problem but I'll start running the deep scan analysis and hopefully something will turn up,” she said. “I'll let you know asap if it does.”

“Thanks, Maeve.” He held out the crumpled package of cookies again. “Have some more. Take the big bits, you deserve ‘em.”

Maeve grinned and took two of the biggest pieces left. “If you ever find out where these came from,” she said, “you better let me know.”

“I'll get you the biggest box I can find,” he promised as he walked out the door. “Seeya later, Maeve!”

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, his arm back to normal and behaving exactly how an arm ought to behave.

The next few days also passed uneventfully, everyone following their usual on base routines and hoping for things to stay quiet over the Christmas period. Bucky spent much of the time in a state of nervous anticipation, wondering if and when the new lab manager was going to find him and cross him off her to do list. And how.

Four days after the first glitch, his arm started misbehaving again. Luckily nothing broke this time, and just as he was about to send Maeve a message to schedule more maintenance, she sent him one saying that the scans had picked something up.

He headed for the elevator, but halfway there he impulsively changed his mind and headed for the stairs. Later, he would chalk it up to instinct. A sixth sense telling him that something wasn't right.

Halfway up the stairs the power went out.

Even as alarms started blaring and the emergency lighting came online he was hurtling towards the nearest exit.

It brought him out into the laboratory level where he was surprised to see the lab manager in some sort of confrontation with two men he didn't recognise. 

One of them looked over at him as the emergency exit he'd come through slammed shut behind him and it was then that he realised she was being held at gunpoint.

And that there was a third person behind him.

He raised his hands as the person behind him ordered him forward, mind working with ruthless efficiency as he calculated the best way to take all three men out without injuring Darcy.

He was bare seconds away from putting his plan into action when his hand spasmed again, and then his whole arm seemed to move of its own accord, taking the gun that was suddenly being held out to him.

And pointing it at Darcy.

“What the hell?” Try as he might, he had no control over his arm at all.

The man that Darcy had been talking to when he first burst into the room turned towards him, holding up what looked like a smartphone.

“Don't bother trying anything, it won't work,” he said. “I have complete control over your implant and prosthetic.”

“How?” Bucky growled.

“An experimental nanotechnology,” the man said. He tapped on the screen and Bucky's arm lowered the gun. Darcy reacted immediately, firing something from the hip and downing the man with the controller. 

Bucky was so surprised that he momentarily froze and by the time he recovered and spun around to disarm the man behind him, the third man had snatched the controlling device from the floor and was holding it in front of him, finger poised to smash down on a button that would do who knew what.

“Stop or I'll make you kill her!” 

Bucky and Darcy both stopped immediately.

“You really are an asshole,” Darcy drawled, shifting her weight subtly to the left, tossing her hair over her shoulder, and allowing Bucky to see the reflection of the approaching backup in one of the shiny cabinets behind her.

“Shut up, bitch,” Goon Number 3 snarled.

“Compliments aren't going to get you anywhere, sorry,” Darcy said, crossing her arms under her chest. It took all of Bucky's willpower not to look at how she was pushing her breasts up but the other man didn't have anywhere near Bucky's self discipline, and his eyes dropped.

Darcy fired her hidden weapon again.

 

A short time later all three intruders were being led away in handcuffs, and Maeve was beginning the tedious task of replacing all the electrical components that had been destroyed when Darcy hit his arm with her taser.

Darcy had been taken to medical for an examination and debriefing.

When he finally got home that evening there was a large box in front of his door.

It was red and green, and tied with a ribbon. He picked it up, took it inside, placing it carefully on the table.

He untied the ribbon, lifted the lid, and smiled.

The box was full of cookies just like the ones he'd broken earlier in the week.

He picked up the card resting on top, and flipped it open.

_ Bucky, _

_ Technically, I think you owe  _ **_me_ ** _ for saving your life just as much as I owe  _ **_you_ ** _ for saving my life, but either way, these are just to say thanks.  _

_ ♡ Darcy _

_ PS -  _ **_you_ ** _ can say thank you by taking me out to dinner.  _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> All images courtesy of Google :-)
> 
> My Tumblr, if you're interested, is [ibelieveinturtles](http://ibelieveinturtles.tumblr.com/)


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